


Make a wish

by Mierke



Category: The Fosters (TV 2013)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-02-27
Updated: 2015-02-27
Packaged: 2018-03-15 12:33:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 746
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3447359
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mierke/pseuds/Mierke
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Callie needs some air. Pre-series AU.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Make a wish

**Author's Note:**

> Written for February Bingo - "Meet & Greet: Watching a meteor shower"

Callie Jacob didn't get much freedom these days. Her current foster parents were really strict, enforcing a curfew that bordered on ridiculous and a daily schedule that existed of school, chores and homework. It was stifling, choking her in a hold that looked to the outside world as caring but felt more like a jailer's grip. 

She had been preparing this evening for a while, now. She needed to breathe, needed to be who she was for a while, without forcing herself to be whoever the people who had taken her in wanted her to be. She hadn't told Jude what she had been planning, didn't want to implicate him in any way, desperate to shield him from any consequences of her actions. 

After dinner, she had announced she wasn't feeling well and that she'd go straight to bed. Her foster parents had offered her some aspirin and sent her up with get well wishes. Once upstairs, she waited for a moment until she heard the usual evening sounds coming from the living room. She heard the news blaring from the TV, the sounds of the coffee machine and the drum practice of their foster parents' biological child (not her sibling; aside from Jude, she didn't have any family, and she never would).

She took the bag that had been lying under her bed for a couple of weeks, and checked the contents once more. An emergency key, for if she couldn't get in any other way (she'd face consequences for sure, but that beat having to sleep outside and then facing the consequences). Some snacks. Water. Extra clothing.

As silent as she could, she opened her window and slipped out of it, tentatively putting her foot on the rain gutter. She was pretty sure it would hold – she wasn't what anyone would call heavy – but her body still tensed up as her other foot left the room as well and her whole weight was supported by the gutter. She let out the breath she hadn't known she'd been holding when it held. She scuffled a little way to the left, then reached with her foot for the top of the garage. She could only just make it, and balancing on her right toe she tried to bring the rest of her body to the garage as well. Failing to keep her balance, she fell backwards, hurt reverberating through her body. Desperately wishing she hadn't made too much sound, she kept still for a moment. 

No movement came from the house, and relieved she crawled to the end of the garage, jumping off at the part that looked out onto the street. Hoisting her backpack high on her shoulders, her hands on the shoulder straps, she set off in a slow run.

She arrived at the site with a few minutes to spare. Greeting some people she vaguely recognized from school, she plopped down on an empty spot, lying on her back with the backpack under her head. The extra clothing made it a pretty good pillow, and she let out a contented sigh.

"It's beautiful, eh?" a guy said next to her, and she looked to her right.

"It hasn't even started yet," she laughed.

"Still," he replied, his eyes lingering for a moment on hers, before he turned back to the night sky. 

"You did not just do that," Callie snickered, turning back to the stars as well, her eyes tracing the familiar lines of the few constellations she could remember. The guy took a breath as if to say something more, but just then the first stars began to fall. An awed hush came over the clearing, and Callie felt herself relax. In the silence, his hand found hers, and she let him lace their fingers together. 

"Make a wish," he whispered and she smiled at him, as if she didn't have anything to wish for, as if her life was perfect and all she wanted was to be here, in this moment. He smiled back at her, his eyes lit up by the stars in the sky, by the excitement she could almost feel humming underneath his skin. 

Maybe she didn't have anything to wish for. Not right now. Maybe all she wanted was more moments like this, moments where she could be who she wanted to be, moments where everything felt right. So she closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and thought real hard about her one true wish.

Freedom.


End file.
